Chris Froome wins Tour De France

22/07/2013

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Chris Froome secured the 100th Tour De France for a British rider a year after Bradley Wiggins became the first Briton to win it. In Froome's case, Kenya may claim a slice of the glory as that is where the Team Sky rider started his competitive cycling career.

The final day was a triumphal procession for Froome along the Champs-Elysees. Tour tradition dictates that the final stage is a formality, a chance for the crowds to acclaim the riders as they arrive in the capital. Froome has dominated this year's Tour from the outset, his mastery of the toughest climbs proving his superiority. Victory even made up for having to wear a garish sequinned jersey for the final stage.

Froome dedicated victory to his mother, who died in 2008. "I’d have given anything just to see her smile with me coming into Paris," he said, before throwing in an idiom that revealed his British roots: "I know she’d be chuffed to bits. She has been a huge inspiration and motivation for me to become as successful as I can on the bike."

Froome is not the ebullient personalty that Wiggins is, but he is the perfect team leader for Team Sky, a brilliant example of the professionalism and dedication that has put the team at the forefront of road cycling. His team-mates acclaim his equanimity, his commitment. Wiggins probably knew that 2012 was his one chance at Tour glory because he was an unpredictable personality at the head of a very technical and disciplined team. Froome and Team Sky have plenty of Tours ahead of them, the opportunity to create an era of British domination of the world's greatest cycle race.

"It is hard to talk too far in advance now," Froome said, "but, if I look at my career and at what my ambitions are as a pro cyclist, to come and target the Tour has got to be the biggest goal. This success has set an amazing platform for me. It would be a shame not to carry that experience forward and use it in future editions."